We will eliminate pan latrines this year – AMA Boss assures

The Mayor of Accra, Mr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuye has assured that in the Accra Metropolitan Assemply’s bid to improve the sanitary conditions of the capital, it will eliminate the use of pan latrines this year.

The elimination of the pan latrines, he said was part of several measures the assembly planned to implement this year to keep the city clean.

According to the AMA Boss, by the end of last year, the assembly had increased toilets in private homes by 11,000 and reduced pan latrines to 214 promising they “will eliminate all pan latrines this year.”

He said the Assembly was partnering 10 companies to help manage waste in the capital and that the AMA will distribute about 46,000 bins in Accra in addition to the 96,000 bins that were distributed last year.

Alfred Vanderpuye disclosed that the AMA last year completed the Legon liquid waste treatment centre to serve the University of Ghana, Institute of Professional Studies, PRESEC and the Achimota School. The treatment centre he said will be connected to communities surrounding these areas to serve them, too, this year.

To manage the perennial flooding of the capital, the Assembly, he added, has secured an amount of US$6,000,603 for the construction of covered storm drains, engineered land field sites, roads and the dredging of the Korle Lagoon and the Odaw River.

He said President John Dramani Mahama will cut the sod for the commencement of these projects Wednesday.

Touching on the current decongestion exercise being undertaken by the AMA, Alfred Vanderpuye stressed that Ghanaians need to desist from selling on the streets.

He said, “We have to allow trading activities to be done at the right places. The roads that we’ve built are not meant for trading activities, the pavements that we’ve built are not meant for commercial and trading activities.”

He debunked assertions that there are not enough markets to accommodate the traders in the capital, a reason for the current spate of street hawking; “We have 40 markets in Accra,” he said, adding they have revamped them to cater for the numbers.

“2013 is the year when we will see the end of all these unnecessary environmental hazards that we have created,” the Accra Mayor assured.